Simon Furman, Mike Costa (w) Don Figueroa, Chee (a) Figueroa, Chee (c)

There are two different stories in this comic, which I'll review separately. These are short stories, so don't expect a lengthy review of either.

Old Ways Simon Furman (writer) and Don Figueroa (artist)
What they got right: Furman gives us an interesting story and it's rare he writes an Optimus Prime worthy of the title Autobot commander. Usually it's Optimus unsure of himself in his stories. Instead, it's Ironhide not trusting himself, and using the events of the 12-parter story makes it work.

What they got wrong: I should be praising Don Figueroa's art, but for some reason he decided to draw the faces along the line of the movie Transformers, which looks more off here than it does in the movies. I also can't tell if Prime's "battle mask" is sliding away like the movie and last two cartoons or if he took it off. It's just there one moment and gone the next.

Uneasy Lies the Head Mike Costa (writer) and Chee Yang Ong (artist)
What they got right: These faces look more like the G1 faces. Ordinarily, they would have had Starscream's character right. However…

What they got wrong: This is not the Starscream we see at the end of last issue. He's back to his old ways, scheming and jumping the gun (no pun intended) when it comes to Megatron and his "future" as supreme Decepticon commander. Did Costa even read McCarthy's story? Also, did the Decepticons forget to pay the light bill? The colors are way too dark and the faces are a bit exaggerated when it comes to showing emotion. I declare the whole story a failure.

Recommendation: I thought the "Coda" stories were going to fill in the gaps to merge AHM into IDW's normal continuity before the ongoing series. Instead we get "Spotlight: Ironhide" and an extended version of a "Mosaic" story that loses Starscream's character growth. Plus the "propaganda" covers have been reduced to a retailer incentive, so I didn't get one. If you missed this comic, you really didn't miss anything.